Those that watched actor Andrew Lincoln’s final episode of The Walking Dead this week will be unsurprised to learn that AMC have more in store for ex-series lead Rick Grimes. The network is reportedly currently working on three films around the character.

Like The Walking Dead, the films will premiere on AMC and are being described as “an original Rick Grimes story,” with the first being written by former series showrunner Scott Gimple. Gimple is also the current chief content officer for the franchise.

He told The New York Times that the film trilogy will have a higher production value than the series, and won’t be adapted from Robert Kirkman’s hit graphic novels.

With The Walking Dead heavily publicising Lincoln’s exit from the show, it seemed like a bit of a cop-out to have Rick not only not die but be rescued by a mysterious helicopter. But after all AMC has been squeezing out of the series for years we should have seen a film trilogy coming a mile away.

AMC head of programming David Madden explained to the Times why such a big thing was made of Rick’s departure even though it wasn’t going to be the last we saw of him.

“If you were a fan of the show we wanted you to know this was your opportunity to see, live, his departure from the series,” he said. “We wanted to honour that moment, and then at the same time tell people what would come next.”

The Walking Dead is currently airing on Mondays on FOX in the UK. Get all the latest sci-fi news with every issue of SciFiNow.